Radiosonde box



March 30, 1943. s w 2,315,353

RADIOSONDE BOX Filed July 18, 1941 ENSQN RUsSEL SHAW The. purpose. "of;

atmosphericpressure"and to trjans'rnit the H e as urements to earth;b'y hausing-"variations or the measured conditions. tolvaryithe radiations of-a. 1 radio transmitterwhich' 'is also ca'rriedfbythe balloon. m. the past the boxes l n'which 1 the.: various elements of ,t,he rneteorograph'fwereplaced were notconstructedin such almannerfas' to insure the best possible results." In such. prior boxes: there was 'noyprovision of adequatemeans :to insure 'propercirculationoi' a large-volurnev of-. air ,around-ithe,Ielementsfpt- ,the device, without which proper circulation-of air-the most accurate measurements"couldnotbezsecuredjl By'myin- 1 V v,

v t h l v s which, not causes 1 upper, vertical portion 'IJ whichis-parallel tothe better-circulation ofthe 'air thartwas provided by prior "artboxes but allows a greater volume of air to 'come into contact withtheelementsv d e l'flbha e. f i measure weather conditions, at high altitude's by 'meansioi,ballooncarried;devices which are on r erated by changes in temperature, humidityand esab 'aal-y tobexeenstruc f 1y. -.tot o e-i w eh I by. the numeral 10. This partition comprises an of thelmeteorographzi Therefore, by means of' thisinventiongmore,accurate results'can be, ob

' tained thantcould-f be obtained through the use a of boxes constructed according to prior art. prac- -Anotheri problem involved in the construction and operation of radiometeorcgraphsarises from "the-fact thatduring the-shipment of v the def, f vices the instruments are 'jarred and the fine ad justmentsimade' at the1; fa'ctoryare disturbed;

Theboxes :cf: the prior art'wereso constructed 1 j that: adjus tnuents could thereafter be madeonly -.xwith g'reatfdiflicu lty. No means were provided insujcn-prior boxes by which the elements of the meteorograph-couldffbe clearly seen and, even "is owing the grid disclosed-in Fig. 1. Means are provided by'this invention for caus- -;'ing-greatercirculation of air through a box con-' taining a radiometeorograph and for distributing this increased circulation'in' animproved manner. .Such means are'disclosed in Fig. 1.015 the 'drawing,in which there is disclosed a box. having -a'top 2, right end wall 3, bottom 4;, left end'wall 5, =Iand side wall 6; Between 'theendwallsl and 5,

and slightly nearer the end wall 3, the box is OSONDEBQX"r-q -q v a.

Alimentary an- 1941. senaiindiiiocgoig Irv Cla ms Ze a-(+ 51):

thereby ,.or -otherwis e" than by the appended 1 Referring to the drawing in which similar ref- Y "erence numeralsrefer'to' like parts:';

',.Fig'."1.is a-sectionalview of a box-constructed according to mylinvention;

wall of the box: of ;Fig.,- l;-and Fig. 3 is. a top-*planview of divided by a generally-vertical partition denoted end walls of the-box ia'tndislocated somewhat nearer to the end walla-than to the end wall-5,.

and which extends fromthe.topi downwardly approximately one-half the height oi. the .-,bcx. v

The partition -Ill is bent at approximately'its' mid-paint to provide a centerportion 12 which v is inclined downwardlyand toward the end wall 5fto a point spaced slightly above theflbottorn l, i from which point the partitionis turned 'downwardly to the bottom of the box to provide the lower vertical partllof the partition. A horizontal partition H connects-the partition land the end wal13', it" being connected to partition III I at approximately the upper end of "the inclined part I2 thereof. The partitions l0 and and the end wall 3 thus definean upper chamber l5 within which a radio transmitter maybe placed andalower chamber l6 within which a pressure responsive apparatus II may-be placed. .The

when they could be seen, itiwas very diflicult to partition Ill and the end wallii also include between them approximately'one-half of the box,-

- which is wide atthe upper part thereof, between the end'wall 5 andthe uppervertieal part- II of the partition and which isnarrow' at its lower part between the end wall'5 and'the ,l'o'wer'ver tical part 13 of partition Ill; The part of the box between partition") and end wall 5 is pari 'tially divided by a partition 20 which is'paralleltothe end walls ofthe box and-approximately midway between the end wall 5 and" the upper vertical part of partition to, extending downwardly from the top 2 a distance or approxipart of the partitions l3 and 20 are in the same plane and are separated by a considerable space 26, inasmuch as the lower end of partition 2|! is substantially above the upper end of partition it. Thus, the upper part of the space between the partition II and end wall I is divided into two vertical'passages 26 and 21, the former being located between end wall 6 and partition 26 and the latter being located between partition 26 and the upper vertical part II of partition II. The lower part of the space between end wall 6 and partition ll forms a passage 26 which is equal in area to the space betweenend wall 6 and partition 26 because of the positioning of partition II in the plane of partition 20.

The partition 26 provides a support for a tem-' perature-responsive device 36 which is disposed in passage 26 between the partition 20 and end wall 5. The partition 26 and partition part It form supports for the upper and lower ends, respectively, of a humidity-responsive device 3| which is disposed within the passages 26 and 28. Thus. the temperature and humidity devices 36, II are so disposed that they extend over or in front of the space 25 between the partition 26 and the co-planar partition part l3. The 'parti-' tion 20 also provides a support for a resistancevarying device 32 which is operated by the humidiiy responsive element 3|, and which is disposed in the passage 21, being mounted on the side of partition 20 opposite to that onwhich the humidity and temperature-responsive devices are mounted.

Means are provided by the invention for causing an increased flow of air through the part of the box between the end wall and the partition 10. Such means comprise three openings in the box, for each of which closures are provided, whereby the openings may be uncovered when the box is in use or may be covered otherwise. Opening 40 is located in the top 2 of the box and is defined by end wall 5,.partition 26 and the side walls of the box, a cover 41 being provided for this opening and being hinged along one side thereof to the top of end wall 5. This opening communicates the passage 26 to the outside of the box. Passage 21. between partition and upper vertical part I l of partition I0 is communicated to the outside of the box by an opening 42 in the top of the box, a cover 43 being provided for this opening, the same being hinged along one side thereof to the top 2. The passage 26 is communicated to the outside of the box by an opening 45 in the bottom of the box, this opening being adapted to be closed by a flap 46 which is hinged along one side thereof to the bottom of the end wall 5. Each of the flaps or closures 4|, 43. 46 is provided with a string whereby it may be tied in open or closed position, anchors 56 being provided in suitable places on the outside of the box towhich the strings may be tied.

When the radiometeorograph is not in use the box will be completely closed by tying all of the flaps over the corresponding openings. when the device is to be used, allof the openings are partition ll laterally through or across the temperature and humidity elements to passage 26 and opening 46. The temperature and humidity elements will therefore be subjected to two streams of air flowing in different directions.

' parts of the temperature and humidity-responsive elements. The strips forming the grid are preferably made of as great depth as is permitted by the spacing of .the upper ends of the temperature and humidity elements from the top of the box and the grid is preferably made c0- extensive with the passage 26. It will be seen that this grid will prevent the rays of the sun from reaching the temperature and humidity elements except in the rare case when the sun is in the exact prolongation of the center-lines of the passages 26 and 28.

There is also provided by the present invention improved means for examining the inside vof the box and, while doing so, making adjustments of the meteorograph elements therein. Such means are disclosed in Fig. 2 of the drawing and comprise openings 60, 6| and 62 which are provided in that part of the end wall 3 of the box which encloses the lower chamber 16 within which the pressure element l! is located. Opening 60 is preferably oval in shape with its major dimension transverse to the end of the box and is located in the center of the lower part of end wall 3. Opening 6| is preferably circular in shape and may be located a short distance above the opening 60. Opening 62 is preferably U-shaped and may be located a short distance to the side of opening 60. Means are provided for covering all of these openings. A transparent covering of glass or other material 64 is permanently placed over opening 60 and is held in place by rivets 10. One part, preferably a half, of this covering is magnifying in nature although the entire covering may be so, if desired. Means are provided for closing the opening 6| which is preferably located above the magnifying part of the viewing opening 60, such means comprising a button 66 which is formed on one end of a strip 61, the other end of which is attached to the box, as by a rivet about which the button 66 and strip 61 may be swung in order to uncover the opening 6!. The opening 62 is defined by a score line in the material of the box and is normally closed, being opened by punching in the material defined by the bottom of the' U-shaped i score, which is then hinged to the box wall by uncovered by tying the flaps in open position.

being deflected therefrom by inclined part l2 of the straight upper edge thereof.

When the box is in its normal use all of the openings are closed. If it is desired to view the pressure element which is inside the box it is only necessary to look through the glass 64. As onehalf of the glass is magnifying in nature the smallest parts of the pressure element may be clearly viewed. If desired, a light may be caused to shine through the other side of the glass in order to illuminate the interior of the chamber. If it is desired to adjust the pressure element, it

The amount of air will thus be increased and the is only necessary to remove the coverings from the openings 60 and GI in order to insert the necessary instruments.

While I have described and illustrated only one embodiment of my invention, it will be ap parent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments may be made without departing in any way from the spirit or scope of the invention, for the limits of which reference must be had to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A box having end walls, side walls, a top and a bottom, means within the box for supporting at least one device which is responsive to changes in atmospheric conditions and for directing air flowing through the box across said supported device, comprising a partition at least part of which is inclined to an end wall or the box and which extends from the top wall to the bottom wall of the box and provides means at its bottom wall end for supporting one end or a device responsive to changes in atmospheric conditions, a second partition extending from the top wall of the box toward the bottom wall thereof and lying substantially in the plane of the bottom wall end of the first partition and terminating short of the bottom wall end of the first partition whereby a passage is provided between the free end of the second partition and the bottom wall end of the first partition, said second partition providing supporting means for one end of a device responsive to changes in atmospheric conditions, whereby at least a part of such supported device overlies the passage between the two partitions, the top and bottom of the box each having at least one opening therein through which the passage between the two partitions communicates with the atmosphere.

2. A box according to claim 1 in which the first named partition comprises an upper section which is substantially at right angles to the top of the box and extends therefrom toward the bottom, and a middle section inclined from the first section toward the bottom and toward the second partition, and a lower section which is substantially at right angles to the bottom and extends therefrom toward the top of the box.

3. A box according to claim 1 in which an additional partition extends from the first-named partitionto the adjacent end wall in a direction away from the second-named partition.

4. A box according to claim 1 in which the top of the box is provided with an opening on each side of the second-named partition, one being between such partition and the top wall end of the first-named partition and the other being between such partition and an end wall of the box, and the bottom of the box being provided with an opening substantially aligned with the second-named opening in the top and lying between the bottom wall end of the first-named partition and such end wall of the box, and closure means for each of such openings.

5. A- box according to claim 1 in which the top wall of the box is provided with two openings one of which is between the second-named partition and the top wall end of the first-named partition, the bottom of the box having an opening therein adjacent the bottom wall end of the first-named partition and on the same side thereof as said opening in the top wall, and closure means for each of the openings.

6. A box according to claim 1 in which the top wall of the box is provided with two openings one of which is between the second-named partition and the end wall on the opposite side of such partition from the top wall end of the first-named partition, the bottom of the box having an opening therein substantially aligned with said opening in the top of the box, and closure means for each of the openings.

'7. A box according to claim l, in which one of the openings in the top of the box has means disposed therein for shading the space beneath said opening, said means comprising a plurality of spaced interfitted strips which form. a grid.

BENSON RUSSELL SHAW. 

